Wildcats Defeat Devils in Conference Opener

The University of the Sciences in Philadelphia women's basketball team opened Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference play tonight, dropping a hard-fought contest to Wilmington College, 65-58 in New Castle, Delaware.

The loss drops the Devils record to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in league play. Wilmington college improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in league play.

Erin Chesnavich (Fr., Bishop O'Reilly HS/ Pittston, PA) paced the Devils with 14 points. Allison Weiss (So., Springfield HS/Springfield, PA) added 12 points while pulling down 11 rebounds. Shelby Rance (Sr., Central Columbia HS/Bloomsburg, PA) and Lori Sedina (Sr., Lower Cape May HS (NJ)/Springfield, PA) chipped in nine and eight points respectively. Sedina also pulled down seven points while dishing out a team high seven assists. All of Chesnavich's points came in the first half as an ankle injury forced her to the bench for the final 20 minutes of action.

The Wildcats placed three players in double figures, led by Amelia Sammons. Sammons finished the game with 20 points. Sherrelle Holmes added 15 points (9-12 FT) and Nordia Henry had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Holmes had seven assists.

The Devils shaved one point off a three-point halftime deficit and trailed 39-37 at the 15:24 mark in the final period when the Wildcats ran off six straight points to take an eight point lead 45-37 lead at the 9:52 mark. Davitra Goode's (Sr., Central Islip HS/Central Islip, NY) three-point field goal made the score 45-40 before a 9-3 run gave the Wildcats their biggest lead of the game, 54-43 with 4:45 left. The Devils followed with baskets by Hayley Lentz (Jr., Wilson Area HS/Easton, PA), Sedina and Weiss to cut the deficit to five, 54-49 with 2:49 left. Wilmington then went to the foul line, connecting on nine of 12 in the final 2:40 and outscoring the Devils 11-9 to provide the final margin of victory.

The Devils held the lead briefly in the opening half, 12-9 at the 14:04 mark before the Wildcats when on an 11-0 run over the next 6:15 to take a 20-12 lead. A 7-2 run by the Devils brought USP back within three, 22-19 with 4:19 left. The Devils got two straight baskets from Chesnavich to make the score 20-16. Simmons followed with a jumper making the score 22-16 before Edwards nailed a three-point field goal to end the run and make the score 22-19. Both teams scored 10 points each over the final four minutes as the Wildcats went into the locker room leading 32-29.

For the game, the Devils shots 36.4% from the field, connecting on 24 of 66 shots. Wilmington made 23 of 60 shots from the field (38.3%). The Devils controlled the boards, outrebounding the Wildcats, 54-34. The Wildcats however, scored 16 points from the free throw line (16-28, 57.1%) to the Devils seven (7-9, 77.8%).

The Devils return home to take on Kutztown University in a non-leaguer game on Thursday, November 30, 2006. Tip off is slated for 6 p.m.